Film cut-out



A. L. ATHERTON.

FILM CUT-OUT.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-I0, 1918- I 1,433,693, Patented Oct. 31, 1922.

H Ii 3 2 I I WITNESSES: INVENTOR v jZfh aL flei iazz W BY ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 31, 1922.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED L. ATHERTON, OF EDGEWOOD PARK, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR 'IO WESTING- HOUSE ELECTRIC & MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF IENNS'YL- VANIA.

FILM OUT-OUT.

Application filed August 10, 1918. Serial No. 249,351.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ALFRED L. ATHER'roN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Edgewood Park, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Film Cut-Outs, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to electrical devices and particularly to film cut-outs for serieslighting systems.

One ObJGCt of my invention is to provide a device of the above-indicated character that shall be simple and durable in construction and inexpensive to manufacture and that shall permit the use of an ordinary lamp.

Another object of my invention is to provide a film cut-out device that shall be so disposed in a receptacle for an electric lamp that a used film may bereadily removed therefrom and a new film placed therein, whether or not the receptacle is occupied by a lamp or other device.

A further object of my invention is to provide a holder for a cut-out fihn that may be separately placed into, and removed from, co-operating engagement with a lamp receptacle, irrespective of whether a lamp or other device occupies the same.

Heretofore, it has been usual, in certain types of film cut-out devices, to provide a lamp having a specially-constructed base, a special device for co-operation with and be tween a lamp and its supporting means, or a device between the lamp-socket and the conductors of a circuit, and, so far as I am aware, all of these devices have required the removal of the lamp in order to renew a used film.

The purpose of a film cut-out device is to short circuit a damaged lamp so that the other lamps of a series system may remain in circuit. The damaged lamp is usually renewed at the time of renewing the film, but there are advantages obtained by having the lamp and its co-operating cut-out device mechanically independent, such as improvement in the facility by which such renewals may be effected.

In .practicin my invention, I. provide a film cut-out evice embodying .a holding member for a dielectric film and so associated with a receptacle for a lamp or other device as to permit the holding member to be independently separable therefrom.

Figure 1 of the accompanying drawin s is a sectional side-view of a lamp receptac e embodying my invention, the film-holding member being omitted for clearness; Fig. 2 1s a view, partially in elevation and partially in section, of the same view, as vlewed in Fig. 1, and with the film-holding member in operative position; Fig. 3 is a plan view of the device shown in Figs. 1 and 2, with a portion of the film-holding member omitted and the remainder thereof shown partially in section; Figs. 4 and 5 are detail views of the film-holding members shown in Figs. 2 and 3, and Figs. '6, 7 and8 are views of portions of alamp socket embodying modifications of my invention.

In Figs. 1, 2 and 3, an insulating bodymember 1, of substantially cup-shape and preferably of porcelain, may be similar to a usual porcelain incandescent lamp-socket but with the addition of a longitudinal chamber or recess 2 at one side thereof. A relatively thin metallic sleeve 3, the walls of which may be of screw-threaded formation for the reception of co-operating lamp 4; or other device, rests in the main chamber of the member 1 and may be attached thereto by bolts 5 and nuts 6, or in any other suitable manner. The sleeve 3 may constitute one terminal for engagement with a lamp of usual form and be electrically connected to the conductors of a circuit (not shown) by means of the bolts 5. A member 7, disposed substantially at the inner end of the sleeve 3 for engagement with the lamp, may constitute another terminal for the circuit and be supported on the member 1 and connected to the circuit through a resilient member 8, a bolt 9, and a nut 10.

Oppositely-facing spaced conducting members 11 and 12, disposed in the recess 2, may be integral with, or connected respectively to, the members 3 and 8 in any suitable manner, as by welding or soldering, to

constitute means for receiving there between a holding-member 13 for a dielectric film 14. As shown in Figs. 4.- and 5, the member 13 may comprise an insulating handle portion 15, of oreclain or any other suitable material and have outwardly-extending ,resil'ient conducting members 16 attached thereto by a bolt 17 and a bushing 18 and bent inwardly at the outer ends to receivethe film 14.

When unoccupied by a lamp or other device the socket is connected in circuit by reason of the engagement of an end 19 of the member 8 with an inner transverselyflanged portion 20 of the sleeve 3. When a lamp is advanced into position in the sleeve 3, the member 7 is engaged and depressed by one terminal of the lamp (not shown), thereby disengaging the end 19 of the member 8 from the portion 20 and thus completing a circuit through the bolts 5, the sleeve 3, the lamp 4, the members 7 and 8, and the bolt 9. When these conditions exist, as indicated in Fig. 2, and with the holder 13 in position between the contact members 11 and 12, the film 14 is in shunt relation to the lamp, and is thus in position, when the lamp fails, to be ruptured by the circuit voltage in the usual manner. When rupture occurs, a current-path is established across the inwardly-bent outer ends of the conducting-member 16.

In Fig. 6, the holding-member 13 may be similar to the device above-described, being of such slightly diiferent shape that it may be inserted directly between the sleeve 3 and an outer conducting member 21. In this form, the members 11 and '12 may be omitted and a more simple structure obtained.

In order to connect the socket in circuit when it is unoccupied by a lamp, the sleeve 3 may be provided with a resilient portion 22 upon which ma be mounted a transversely-disposed ro or pin 23 that may extend through an opening 24 in the member 21, and may have an end-member 25 for engagement with the member 21. When a lamp is advanced into the sleeve 3, the portion 22 will be pressed outwardly to cause disengagement of the members 25 and 21.

-In Figs. '7 and 8, the cooperating seat or contact-portion 26 for the holding-member 13 may be formed integrally with the sleeve 3 by pressing the wall of the same to the shape shown, or to any other suitable shape, without interfering with its usual function.

While I have shown and described particular forms of my invention, many changes may be effected therein without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention;

1. A lamp fixture comprising a base, a

film holder having a pair of terminals with a dielectric film interposed therebetween, a sleeve member secured to the base and serving as a terminal member for a lamp, a yielding conducting member secured directly to the base and provided with one extension that serves as the other terminal of a lamp and with another extension that serves as one electrical connection for one of said pair of terminals, and a second connection for the other terminal of said pair secured directly to the said sleeve member, at a point on the periphery thereof, and opposite to the film holder.

2. A lamp fixture comprising a base, a film holder having a pair of terminals, with a dielectric film interposed therebetween, a sleeve member secured to the base and serving as a terminal member for a lamp, a yielding conducting member of substantially L-shape secured directly to the base and provided with one extension that serves as the other terminal of a lamp and with another extension disposed adjacent to one side of the sleeve member and servingas one electrical connection for one of said pair of terminals, and a second connection for the other terminal of said pair secured directly to the said sleeve member, at a point on the periphery thereof, and opposite to the-film holder.

3.-A lamp fixture comprising a base, a film holder having a pair of terminals with a dielectric film interposed therebetween, a sleeve member secured to the base and serving as a terminal member for a lamp, a conducting member of L-shape having one of its legs provided with an extension that serves as the other terminal of a lamp and with a portion that is biased into engagement with the sleeve member when the lamp is removed, a contacting surface on the other leg of the L-shaped member that serves as one electrical connection for one of said pair of terminals, and a second consubscribed my name this 31st day of July,

ALFRED L. ATHERTON. 

